This is a scalable context timeline. It contains events related to the event After November 7, 2006: Drug Companies Hire Lobbyists with Ties to Democrats. You can narrow or broaden the context of this timeline by adjusting the zoom level. The lower the scale, the more relevant the items on average will be, while the higher the scale, the less relevant the items, on average, will be.

The Boston Globe reports that the FDA is considering the validity of the pharmaceutical industry’s argument that the agency’s regulation of drug advertisements violates manufacturers’ “free speech” rights. The inquiry is being led by FDA Chief Counsel Daniel E. Troy, who represented drug companies before being appointed to the FDA position in August 2001 (see August 2001). [Boston Globe, 10/19/2002]

Concerned about Democratic plans (see After November 7, 2006) to push for lower drug prices and tighter regulation of the pharmaceutical industry, drug companies begin communicating with Democrats and recruiting lobbyists with Democratic connections. [New York Times, 11/24/2006] Billy Tauzin, president of the drug lobbying organization Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PRMA), meets with Senator Byron L. Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat who has spent six years pushing for legislation that would allow drug imports from Canada. [New York Times, 11/24/2006] Amgen, a biotechnology firm, retains George C. Crawford, a former chief of staff for Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca), as a lobbyist. [New York Times, 11/24/2006] Merck hires Peter Rubin, a former aide to Representative Jim McDermott of Washington. [New York Times, 11/24/2006] Cephalon contracts Kim Zimmerman, a health policy aide to Senator Ben Nelson (D-Ne). [New York Times, 11/24/2006] The Biotechnology Industry Organization retains Paul T. Kim, a former aide to Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Ma) and Representative Henry A. Waxman (D-Ca). [New York Times, 11/24/2006] One unnamed medicare expert who works for House Democrats tells the New York Times in late November that he received three separate job offers in one day from the drug industry. [New York Times, 11/24/2006]

At a Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PRMA) board meeting, top executives from two dozen drug companies meet to work on a strategy to prevent the incoming Democratically-controlled Congress from passing legislation that would lower drug prices and tighten regulation of the industry (see After November 7, 2006). Their top concern is a bill they expect Democrats to push that would allow the government to negotiate lower drug prices for millions of older Americans on Medicare. Lobbyists for the industry concede that it is probable that such legislation will be passed by the House. But they say they are determined to have it killed in the Senate. If their efforts fail, and the Senate does pass such a bill, the drug industry believes that President Bush would veto it and that the veto would be upheld by the remaining Republicans in the Senate. Among those attending the meeting are Kevin Sharer, chairman of Amgen; Jeffrey B. Kindler, chief executive of Pfizer; Sidney Taurel, chairman of Eli Lilly; and Richard T. Clark, chief executive of Merck. [New York Times, 11/24/2006]

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) acknowledges it has funded a series of television advertisements in support of legislation primarily written by Max Baucus (D-MT), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, to reform US health care. The television ads are part of an agreement between the Obama administration, Baucus, and PhRMA in June, where the organization agreed to various givebacks and discounts designed to reduce America’s pharmaceutical spending by $80 billion over 10 years. PhRMA then set aside $150 million for advertising to support health care legislation. More progressive House Democrats such as Henry Waxman (D-CA) are pushing for stiffer drug industry givebacks than covered in the deal. PhRMA is led by Billy Tauzin, a former Republican congressman. Until recently, the organization spent some $12 million on ads by an offshoot coalition called Americans for Stable Quality Care, and aired television ads such as “Eight Ways Reform Matters to You.” PhRMA’s new ads will specifically support the Baucus bill. Many are critical of the deal, with James Love of the progressive research group Knowledge Ecology charging, “Essentially what the US got was not $80 billion, but $150 million in Obama campaign contributions.” [New York Times, 9/12/2009] Investigative reporter Matt Taibbi agrees with Love, accusing the White House of colluding with Baucus and Tauzin’s PhRMA to orchestrate a “big bribe” in exchange for the Democrats’ dropping of drug-pricing reform in the Baucus bill. Taibbi writes that in June, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel met with representatives from PhRMA and drug companies such as Abbott Laboratories, Merck, and Pfizer to cut their deal. Tauzer later told reporters that the White House had “blessed” a plan involving the $150 million in return for the White House’s agreement to no longer back government negotiations for bulk-rate pharmaceuticals for Medicare, and to no longer support the importation of inexpensive drugs from Canada. Taibbi writes that the White House worked with Baucus and PhRMA to undercut Waxman’s attempts to give the government the ability to negotiate lower rates for Medicare drugs. PhRMA’s ads are being aired primarily in the districts of freshmen Democrats who are expected to face tough re-election campaigns, and in the districts of conservative “Blue Dog” Democrats, who have sided with Baucus, Obama, and PhRMA to oppose the Waxman provision in favor of PhRMA’s own provision, which would ban the government from negotiating lower rates for Medicare recipients. [True/Slant, 9/14/2009]

Ordering

Time period

Email Updates

Receive weekly email updates summarizing what contributors have added to the History Commons database

Donate

Developing and maintaining this site is very labor intensive. If you find it useful, please give us a hand and donate what you can.Donate Now

Volunteer

If you would like to help us with this effort, please contact us. We need help with programming (Java, JDO, mysql, and xml), design, networking, and publicity. If you want to contribute information to this site, click the register link at the top of the page, and start contributing.Contact Us